Topic: Castlevania: Umbra of Sorrow (1999 Fan Project)

[theplottwist]

I'm thinking AOS Unes or Mudmen from SCV4, but they're most certainly not as universally hated as Fleamen, Ravens, and Medusa Heads.

Oh but you hate this one. Anyone who meets it learn to hate it.

And you all will grow to hate it even more. As the player character grows more versatile, so must the enemies. And this one became versatile exactly were it needed.

And I will say more: This specific enemy is not the only one gaining some upgrades.

[Foffy]

I would lose it if killing a Medusa Head helped create three more in its wake. ;_;

[DarkDiablo1995]

Oh but you hate this one. Anyone who meets it learn to hate it.

And you all will grow to hate it even more. As the player character grows more versatile, so must the enemies. And this one became versatile exactly were it needed.

And I will say more: This specific enemy is not the only one gaining some upgrades.

If I hear that Death's inherent ability is scythe summoning instead of sickle summoning, I'd probably lose my head as soon as I walk into the room. I'm quickly imagining AoS's Death summoning copies of that double scythe instead of the usual sickles. Probably not that, though, so feel free to slap me silly for being paranoid if you'd like.

[theplottwist]

If I hear that Death's inherent ability is scythe summoning instead of sickle summoning, I'd probably lose my head as soon as I walk into the room. I'm quickly imagining AoS's Death summoning copies of that double scythe instead of the usual sickles. Probably not that, though, so feel free to slap me silly for being paranoid if you'd like.

Oh no, it's not Death we're talking about.

But you can bet your pajamas Death is no walk in the park in here.

[Shiroi Koumori]

Oh but you hate this one. Anyone who meets it learn to hate it.
And you all will grow to hate it even more. As the player character grows more versatile, so must the enemies. And this one became versatile exactly were it needed.

Noooo! Please for the love of everything, not those Medusa heads. I beg of you.....

But you can bet your pajamas Death is no walk in the park in here.

Well, Death is a boss character, that seems to be an acceptable route to take.

[Dracula9]

If Big D's bringing his A-game, Slightly-Less-Big D should too.

[Shiroi Koumori]

Yup!

On a side note, when I was reading your statement after watching several Bloodstained videos, my mind interpreted the Ds as bust sizes.... oh boy.

[SecretWeapon]

Dig anyone say Big D?

[BLOOD MONKEY]

Dig anyone say Big D?

O H N O

But seriously, I'm really looking forward to what this project is gonna turn out to be.

[VladCT]

In other news: Certain enemies are starting to adopt classic Mortal Kombat arcade bullshit AI. :v

[Foffy]

Why not SNK "I can read the controls" level of AI?

Take a doppleganger fight to new heights. 

[VladCT]

Dude, you have no idea how much bullshit the AI in the classic MK games pull. :v

[Dracula9]

kintaro stomp

[The Puritan]

Two questions after reading previous pages:

1. The events of 1897. It seems you guys are going with a Castlevania-ized take on the original Dracula novel. Can you tell us more about it ie how much it diverges from Bram Stoker's work? Or is that another story for another time?

2. Any plans for Blackmore? A 2 on 1 fight with him and HOD's Shadow would be so cash.

[theplottwist]

1. The events of 1897. It seems you guys are going with a Castlevania-ized take on the original Dracula novel. Can you tell us more about it ie how much it diverges from Bram Stoker's work? Or is that another story for another time?

I have an outline for this story, but just so I could think up the timeline leading to 1999. The events of 1897 do not have such a huge importance that I'd need to tell that story first, but they do have a certain importance to details leading up to the conclusion of the 1999 story. This outline exists so I don't create inconsistencies within my own story's logic.

Think of this like Christopher Belmont: You didn't need to know what Christopher did or not when the first Castlevania was available. Christopher got mentioned in there and said to have his own legend, but this only serves to build Simon's and his whip's importance on this world. Or, better yet: Think of 1999 itself getting mentioned in Aria. You know something big happened, you know it affects Aria directly, but you don't need to see it to understand Aria -- you just need to understand what is it from 1999 that affects Aria.

The principle is very close to this here. You will see SPECIFIC events from 1897 get mentioned, but they are not needed to be known in absolute detail to know what is going on here.

Now, how much does it diverge... Well, the Bram Stoker's story themes were maintained e.g: there is a Quincy--obviously--, there is a Renfield, there is a Jonathan, there is a Van Helsing, there is a pursuit through Europe and a final battle at the feet of Dracula's Castle. But there's also a Lecarde, there's a witch, there's a magic whip and a magic spear, and many other elements from Castlevania (which include a crumbling castle that is not on the book, but WAS initially before being removed by Stoker). Some of these elements combined comprise the important subject surfacing on Umbra.

After researching for myself, I reached the conclusion Bram Stoker's novel cannot possibly be canon to Castlevania despite popular thinking, but its events CAN be adapted as headcanon as long as the Bram Stoker themes, not the details, are kept. To me, this appears to be what Toshiki Yamamura (and years later, IGA) wanted for the events preceding Bloodlines, by slightly mispelling Quincy's name (more than once, and something repeated by IGA), giving him a son when he shouldn't have one, and mentioning his connection with the Belmonts. And this is what I did to build this fan project.

2. Any plans for Blackmore? A 2 on 1 fight with him and HOD's Shadow would be so cash.

No plans for Blackmore.